Victory In Defeat
by Suilven
Summary: Truly, it was a marvellous game, but it had gone on a little too long for Zevran's liking. When the old woman beckoned him over with a promise of something that would help, how could he say no? For the Cheeky Monkey 'Love Potion #9' challenge.


**Victory in Defeat**

"Have you found anything interesting?" Zevran sidled up beside Kallian, standing just close enough so that his breath would ghost over her cheek.

She turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow as she perused him thoroughly. "Not yet."

He grinned, his own gaze settling on the delicious pertness of her mouth. "Do you like what you see?"

Kallian shrugged. "Perhaps. If I was looking for a conquest." She stepped towards him, tantalizingly out of reach by only a hands breadth; only his years of training prevented his unconscious reflex to lean in. She stretched slowly and deliberately, her more than ample breasts accentuated as she arched her shoulders backward. He didn't miss the way she eyed him to gauge his reaction—he kept his face as neutral as he could manage—before stepping away. "I should go see if the others are finished with their shopping."

"I will come with you then."

"If you wish." A slow smile crept across her face before she turned, her hips swaying ahead of him as they navigated through the crowds.

It was getting to be slightly maddening. This game they had been playing had gone on far too long for his liking. There had been too many nights—nights, which he was pained to admit had been increasing in frequency—where he had been left aching with no touch but his own to keep himself from going mad. If she had been uninterested in him, that would have been one thing; he would have moved on, perhaps to the bard, or even the witch. But, no, she had taunted him—a seemingly innocent touch here, a blush and a hesitant glance, there. She had almost fooled him at first… almost. Now, their game had devolved into a sheer battle of wills, neither one willing to give in.

He would win. There had to be something else he could try that would push her over the edge and into his waiting arms.

"You look like someone who could use my… particular wares." The voice jolted him out of his thoughts as he passed. An old woman—no, she was ancient—her skin loose and papery, sat at the stall to his left. She laughed, a choking sort of wheeze, as she rocked back and forth. "Come, young man. Come and see."

The top of the table in front of her was covered in a length of intricately woven colored cloth, but... nothing else. "Ah, I am sorry, but you appear to be all sold out. Another time perhaps." He smiled politely, his eyes scanning the crowd. _Brasca!_ Kallian had completely vanished.

"Oh, I don't put my things out for everyone to see. They're special. Not just for anyone." She leaned forward as if to take a better look at him, and he was startled to notice that both of her deep-sunken eyes were white and faintly opalescent, not unlike the pearls the divers brought up from the depths of Rialto Bay. "Hmmm… interesting. Yes. I know what you need." She shifted slowly, reaching into the basket at her feet. He could hear the clinking of bottles as she rummaged around, muttering to herself. "Yes. Perfect. We know what he needs, don't we?"

Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, he considered walking away, but some strange sense of curiosity held him rooted to the spot.

"What are you doing?" Kallian's mouth was so close to his ear that he nearly leapt into the air. He could hear the amusement in her voice. "Did I startle you? You, the great assassin?"

"I was not _startled_, merely surprised to have such a vision of loveliness appear when I did not expect it."

She traced one of the tattoos that ran along his cheek with a fingertip and smirked. It took all of his willpower not to shudder. "Right. So, what are you buying? There doesn't seem to be anything for sale here." She looked around, puzzled.

"Well, I—"

"Oh!" The old woman stood up, her blind eyes swiveling to rest on each of them in turn. "Two of you! Most auspicious, yes… and I have two. Interesting."

Kallian looked at him with raised eyebrows, clearly holding back a laugh. "I don't think we need what you're selling, lady. Thanks anyway."

"Yes. Yes, you do." She plucked two vials, seemingly from the air itself, and placed them on the table. They were identical, from the rounded glass bottles to the engraved golden stoppers. Both were filled with a glowing liquid in an unnatural shade of pink. "One for each of you."

Zevran picked one up, surprised to find that it was faintly warm to the touch. In fact, it seemed to be getting hotter the longer he held it. He gently removed the stopper and sniffed the contents suspiciously before placing it back down on the table. "What are they?"

"What are they?" The old woman began to laugh, a dry chuckle that went on far too long. "Why, they're love potions, of course."

"Love potions?" Kallian grinned at him. "Maybe you should buy one, Zev. You need all the help you can get."

"_I _need help? I think you are mistaken. Tell you what, I will buy one for you because I feel sorry for you." Zevran turned to the woman. "I will buy one for my friend, here. How much are they?"

"Oh, no you don't. If you buy one for me, then I'm buying one for you." She snatched up one of the vials. "How much?"

The old woman nodded. "Yes. Perfect. One for each of you. Only one gold sovereign each, two for the pair." As her bony fingers closed over the two coins that Zevran and Kallian had dropped into her palm, she leaned forward over the table. "You know how they work, yes? You must get the object of your desire to consume just a few drops of the potion." She mimed a drinking motion. "Then, their eyes will be opened and they will see. They will want you, with all the passion you seek."

Zevran smiled suggestively at Kallian as he slipped his vial into one of the hidden pockets in his cloak. "Whatever shall I do with this? The bard will at last be mine, since I have pined after her for so long now. I assume that Alistair shall be at your feet before nightfall?"

"Of course." Her vial had disappeared into her pockets as well. "I intend to teach him all about life's pleasures."

"Shall we go find them then, and put our nefarious plans into action?"

Her smile was almost feral. "Absolutely."

Zevran held back his own grin until she was walking ahead of him into the crowd.

Let the games begin.

oOoOo

After examining the pink liquid thoroughly—more than a quarter of the small bottle had now been used up in various alchemical experiments—Zevran was satisfied that the contents were not a poison of some kind. He had even managed to convince Morrigan to covertly take a quick look at it in exchange for some of his rarer extracts. She had given him a surprised look before handing the vial back to him, confirming that it was, indeed, magically imbued to induce desire.

That night, his first few drops went into Kallian's waterskin. She'd smirked at him in the morning as she dumped the contents on to the fire before refilling it at the nearby stream. "You can do better than that," she had whispered seductively into his ear when she had returned.

"As can you, my dear Warden." He nodded towards the damp soil near his feet where he had dumped out his own waterskin less than half an hour before.

In the days that followed, they both took to guarding their food and drink cautiously. He had even been forced to skip a meal when he had been unsure, but he had been more than willing to trade his hunger for the satisfaction of outwitting her.

"So, we are on watch together tonight. It promises to be a most enjoyable evening, no?" Zevran allowed his hand to casually brush hers as he sat down next to her beside the fire.

Kallian surprisingly caressed his palm with the barest hint of her fingers before sliding her hand fully into his. "I'm glad we have this time together—alone. I think we need to talk."

"Of course. I am always here for you." He tried to keep the elation from his voice. Had he finally succeeded? He didn't think so… He was sure she had left her flagon untouched at dinner after he had discretely added a few drops to it. Perhaps she had finally drunk the healing potion at the bottom of her pack?

She toyed nervously with one of the buckles on her armor. "It's just, we've been playing this game so long that I don't know how to stop." She looked up at him thoughtfully. "All this silly stuff with the potions… I mean, it's been fun—I'd be lying if I said that watching you take your tankard of ale with you when you went to find the chamber pot at the inn yesterday wasn't hilarious." Kallian exhaled, pulling her hand away from his and wrapping her arms around her knees. "I think I'm ready to be done with this pretense. Are you?"

"I… I do not know what to say. I, too, have enjoyed our game, but I find myself growing… more anxious for its conclusion." He took her hand in his once more, running his thumb over the smoothness of her skin. "You have been a most worthy opponent."

"I'm happy to say the same."

She was close enough that he could smell the sweetness of her freshly washed hair, the faint aroma of the citrus soap she favored exciting him in a most primal way. He reached over and smoothed a strand of hair away from her cheek. The way she leaned into his touch was more than convincing enough that she wanted this as much as he did. His hand slid behind her head into her still damp hair, urging her forward as his mouth found hers at last.

Her lips were so soft, so moist and pliant under his own and he couldn't stop the groan that escaped him. It had been far too long since he'd been with another, and the fact that it was Kallian's tongue plundering his mouth made it that much sweeter. Jolts of desire were coursing through him and he was already so hard that he could barely form a thought beyond the fact that he was going to drag Alistair out of bed to keep watch and then drag Kallian off to his tent where he could properly ravish her.

It took him a minute to realize that there was a strange taste flooding his mouth just as Kallian broke the kiss and sat back with a triumphant grin. "Gotcha."

"I—how did you—?"

Kallian reached into her mouth and pulled something out, dropping it into her palm. "I made a wax capsule and filled it with the potion."

"Very clever. I must admit defeat then, I think. I am ashamed that I was fooled so easily."

She leaned forward and kissed him softly. "I accept your defeat, and now I would claim my prize."

"I am yours, my Warden, but… I hope you knew that already."

"Is that the potion talking, or you?"

Zevran paused. "Just me. Honestly, I do not feel any different."

"Do you think the old woman conned us?"

"No, I had Morrigan test mine and she confirmed it was some sort of magic meant to induce desire."

Kallian giggled. "I had Wynne do the same on mine."

"You tested it for poisons and toxins first?"

"Naturally. I wouldn't have risked dosing you with it if I hadn't."

They studied each other for a moment before Zevran drew her in for another long kiss. "I think the potion is not working because I do not need my eyes opened," he whispered, his tongue and teeth alternating as he made his way down the column of her throat. "I already know how much I desire you."

She was breathing heavily, and she tilted her head to give him better access. "Do you want to know what I know?"

"What do you know, _dulzura_?"

"I know that we need to go find a tent. _Now_. "

"Allow me." He pressed a final kiss against her bare shoulder, relishing the shiver it produced before rising and offering her a hand up. "I shall go haul Alistair out of bed; perhaps the bard, too." He drew her close, unable to resist tasting the sweetness of her mouth once more. "I cannot get enough of you, _querida_. I have craved this for so long." A desperate fire was burning its way through him now. Perhaps the potion had done something after all.

"As have I." Kallian wound her arms around his neck, tugging his bottom lip gently between her teeth before kissing him hungrily.

"Perhaps," he managed to get out between kisses, "we should give what is left of our potions to Leliana. One would have to be blind to miss the way Alistair looks at her. It will stop his whining, at least for a while, I suspect."

Kallian pulled back to look at him and smiled, nearly taking his breath away. "_That_ is an excellent idea." She fished around in one of the pouches at her waist and withdrew her vial, dropping it into his hand. "You go take care of that while I… get ready." She winked, sliding her hand down his chest to cup the obvious bulge in his trousers. "Meet me in my tent when you're done."

"Your wish is my command, my Warden." He pushed against her stroking fingers and grinned. "I think I should lose to you more often."

She squeezed him gently before removing her hand. "I'm sure that can be arranged. Don't keep me waiting."

Zevran watched her go before extracting his own unbroken capsule from his mouth.

There was victory in defeat—of that he had no doubt.

* * *

><p><em>AN: This was written for Epiphany Sola Gratia's Love Potion Number Nine challenge on the Cheeky Monkeys of Dragon Age board and as a gift for the amazingly sweet and talented Seika (xseikax here on FFNet), who loves her some elves. ;) Go check out 'Eyes of a Stranger' or 'Blood Song'-you won't be sorry!_

_A super special thank you and huggle for Josie Lange for her speedy beta and wonderful comments and suggestions. You're the bestest, lady!_


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